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Sunday, October 31, 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN : Vegan nanaimo bars

A truly Canadian confection, the NANAIMO bar! These treats are a Canadian favourite! I know I use to love them before I went vegan. When I was surfing around the net looking for something yummy to make since it is Halloween. I found a recipe on the joyofbaking.com and thought it looked easy enough to veganize, and I was right!

Let me just say one little thing , I am not a fan of healthy desserts. If I need my sugar fix I pretty much go for it. Nothing will hold me back from the sweet sugary goodness of chocolate! I can't imagine them lasting very long in the fridge. One year I made a batch of these with some truffles and gave them away as winter gifts, they keep nicely in the freezer.

We never get many kids for the trick-or-treats. We still carve the pumpkins and have a bowl of candy at the door (just in case).

my pumpkin

The best part about carving pumpkins is the seeds! I always pick through the guts to save them for roasting. This time I roasted 1 pan with garlic powder & sea salt, the other one had tamari sprinkled on it with black pepper. I roast the seeds on low heat 275 for about 1.5 hours. Turn the oven off, and let them sit for a while in there so that they are really dry. A tasty treat!

2 whole pans of pumpkin seeds!!

our pumpkins

This is the recipe I got from joyofbaking.com and changed it to make it vegan

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup earth balance

1/4 cup vegan sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg replacement

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups vegan cookie crumbs (I used a digestive cookie and crumbed it in my processor)

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup walnuts- coarsely

chopped

Middle Layer:

1/4 cup earth balance

2 - 3 tbsp soy milk

2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder (Bird's)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups vegan powdered sugar

Top Layer:

4 ounces vegan dark chocolate

1 tablespoon earth balance

Bottom Layer: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the egg replacement. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, cookie crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts. Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

Middle Layer: Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until the mixture is smooth. If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk. Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

Top Layer: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the filling and refrigerate until the chocolate has set.

To Serve: To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife bring the squares to room temperature before cutting.